So these are the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds… now they have some minor upgrades over the Bose QC Earbuds 2, which are all found under the hood. But the Bose QC Ultra earbuds have the same case and shape as their predecessors… which for me is a big drawback cause I think their case is just too big. However, I have come to appreciate the Bose QC Ultra earbuds because of their comfort. So lets see if the Bose QC Ultra earbuds are right for you and lets see if its worth upgrading if you already have the Bose QC Earbuds 2.
Regarding pricing, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds have a retail price of $300, which is do feel is pretty steep for a pair of wireless earbuds… but they are starting to go on sale for $250 from time to time… and at that price they’re easier to consider… but they’re still a little pricey. Nonetheless if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
Now first lets talk about the carrying case cause this for me is very important when taking earbuds into consideration… and this has always been one of my biggest gripes with Bose’s earbuds cause their cases have always been very big. Now the Bose QC Ultra earbuds have the same case as the bose QC earbuds 2. So yes, this case is noticeably larger than your staples like lets say the AirPods 3 or AirPods Pro 2 which are the gold standard when it comes to cases cause these cases have a smaller footprint and they’re thinner than Bose’s case…. Samsung’s galaxy buds cases are also smaller cause they have a smaller foot print… but they are a little thicker than your AirPods cases. But then there are the Sony WF-1000XM5’s case and Linkbuds s cases which have been improved from their predecessors… So with the Bose QC Ultra case… yeah they fit in your pocket… but this case just isn’t as convenient as all of these other cases here. The Bose QC Ultra’s have a larger case more in the league of the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s cases which is just super thick… or the Beats Studio Buds Plus case which is a little thinner, it does have a larger foot print. And unfortunately, even though this case is rather larger… and even though these ear buds have a premium price… the Bose QC Ultra still dont have wireless charging… which is a very standard feature now even in smaller cases and its definitely a standard feature for a pair of earbuds of this price point. This case only charges via its USB C port.
Now regarding battery life, the Bose QC ultra earbuds have an advertised combined battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on. The earbuds themselves can go for as long as 6 hours and the case can supply 3 additional charges. And this is the same battery life performance as their bose QC earbuds 2’s… and just like the Bose QC earbuds 2 and just like with Bose’s headphones, you cant use these earbuds with their ANC turned off… so you can’t extend their battery life that way.
But just like the Bose QC ultra headphones… the earbuds also have immersive audio… and just like the headphones… immersive audio takes a noticeable toll on the battery life. With immersive audio turned on, these earbuds have a combined battery life of 16 hours, the earbuds themselves can go for up to 4 hours, plus those 3 additional charges.
So overall, the battery life on the Bose QC Ultra earbuds is usable, but its not very impressive cause these earbuds have a bad battery life to case size ratio. Cause for comparison sake, the AirPods Pro 2 have a significantly smaller case, with wireless charging, and they have a combined battery life of up to 30 hours with their ANC turned on. So again, the battery life and the case size of bose’s earbuds just isn’t one of their strong suits. And if you use your immersive audio, then your battery life is just going to drain faster.
So overall, im not the biggest fan of Bose’s case and battery life performance… but the benefit that you get in return for compromising on the case with these earbuds is their fit. Just like their predecessors, the Bose QC ultra earbuds have a unique and very comfortable fit. Now these are shallow fitting in ear ear buds. As in they dont go in super deep into your ear canals like a pair of standard fitting in ear earbuds like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2, Sony Linkbuds or Sennheiser Momentum 3’s… but these also aren’t like your other shallow fitting in ear earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2, Beats Studio Buds pro or Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The Bose QC earbuds are actually more shallow fitting than all of these earbuds. These rest basically right outside your ear canals like a pair of AirPods 3’s, but they actually manage to create a seal, which means that they will passively block out noise pollution. Now the benefit of stalling fitting in ear earbuds is that they feel a lot more natural and a lot less intrusive, making them feel a lot more comfortable. But the drawback of shallow fitting in ear earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2’s is that they can wiggle out quite easily. Now even though the Bose QC Ultra are more shallow than the AirPods Pro 2… they dont wiggle out as easily cause they have ear fins… so these earbuds are both very comfortable to wear and they also offer a lot of lock down. So improved comfort is the main reason why I would put up with this large case… but another thing that I hate about this cases that due to these earbud’s odd shape and how they fit in their case, it is a little difficult to take these earbuds out of this case.
And when it comes to connectivity, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter and this is the connection setup that we expect to see from all of out earbuds nowadays.
And just like before, the Bose QC Ultra earbuds can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time, which is good if you’re a power user cause you can easily hot swap from one device to another, regardless of eco system.
And when it comes to overall performance, these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs the Bose QC Ultra have support for SBC, AAC and APTX Adaptive, where as its predecessors only have support for SBC and AAC. Just keep in mind that if you want to take advantage of APTX you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC, and APTX adaptive might not be available for all android devices.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now for starters the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds and the Bose QC Earbuds 2 sound and preform the same… out of the box, the Bose QC Earbuds 2 have a slightly brighter stock sound signature than the Bose QC Ultra earbuds… but that can be changed through the customizable EQ which is something that both of these earbuds have. But more importantly, both of these earbuds have the same instrument separation, the same detail, and they dont have all that much resonance in their bass like with lets say the AirPods Pro 2. But the major difference between these two earbuds is that the Bose QC Ultra earbuds have immersive audio, now what immersive audio does is that it pushes the vocals forward and it moves the instrumentals back and out, And immersive audio also does the whole head tracking thing just like with the AirPods Pro 2. Now personally I feel the whole head tracking thing is just a gimmick so I set these earbuds to motion so that my music stays still. Now immersive audio sounds good… but the difference between having immersive audio turned on and off isn’t as noticeable as with the immersive audio on the Bose QC Ultra headphones… and I also noticed that in certain songs where the vocals are already pronounced… with immersive audio turned on these earbuds are going to amplify and distort the already pronounced vocals. And this is an issue that I dont have with the headphones. So personally I dont find myself using immersive audio on these earbuds all that often, and instead I enjoy the slightly better battery life cause like I mentioned earlier, immersive audio is going to take an additional tool on the battery life.
Now when it comes to the media controls on these earbuds, they’re using touchpads and with these touch pads you can tap to play or pause or double tap to skip through your music and you can swipe to raise or lower you volume. And surprisingly the touchpad on these earbuds are better than the touchpad found on the Ultra headphones. And overall these touch pads are decent enough to use but sometimes there can be some mistakes.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now the ANC on the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds is very impressive, however I do want to tapper exceptions here, dont expect the ANC on these earbuds to block out as much noise as a proper pair of premium ANC headphones like lets say the Bose QC Ultra headphones, Or the Bose QC’s, Sony 1000XM5’s, AirPods Max or Sennheiser Momentum 4’s.
However when it comes to overall ranking… the AirPods Pro 2 and the Sony WF-1000XM5’s are neck and neck when it comes to first place, closely followed by the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds, below them are the Bose QC Earbuds 2, Below them are the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s, below them are the Sony Linkbuds S, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2 pro and below them are the Pixel Buds Pro.
Now the reason why I say the Sony WF-1000XM5’s are neck and neck with the AirPods Pro 2 is cause with the AirPods Pro 2’s, they do a slightly better job of blocking out constant low frequency sounds like road noise, where as the XM5’s do a slightly better job of blocking out random higher frequency sounds like chatter. And the Bose QC Ultra earbuds just cant manage to block out more noise than either of these two earbuds in either category.
But the important thing here is, the Bose QC Ultra earbuds block out noticeably more noise than their predecessor the Bose QC Earbuds 2. And even though the Bose QC Ultra aren’t blocking out at much noise as the Sony WF-1000XM5’s… the bose aren’t using foam ear tips like the WF-1000XM5’s. Which give them a slight advantage cause these foam ear tips passively block out more noise than silicon ear tips. But these foam ear tips do get itchy very quickly.
And even though the Bose aren’t blocking out as much noise as the AirPods Pro 2… the bose still block out a lot of noise without a whole lot a cabin pressure. Cause with the AirPods Pro 2, if theres a lot of noise pollution, there’s a lot of cabin pressure, which can be a little uncomfortable.
So even though the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds come in third place here when it comes to active noise cancelation… they come in first place here regarding comfort cause the Bose aren’t relying on foam ear tips to block out noise… and when theres a lot of noise to block out, there isn’t a lot of cabin pressure.
But also, these earbuds have an ambient mode, and the ambient mode on these earbuds is decent. It sounds fairly natural with only a slight hissing in the background… and you can somewhat adjust how much noise these earbuds let in. And the microphone array on these earbuds does a decent job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
But also, these earbuds have active sense just like the headphones. And what active sense does is that is blocks out loud noises when you have your ambient mode turned on. The problem with active sense is that its a little overall sensitive cause it will block out your ambient noise if you’re in an area where there are a lot of people chatting… or if you’re outdoors its can block out the road noise when a car is driving by. And these are the exact sounds that im trying to listen for when I have my ambient mode turned on. So personally I dont use the Active Sense on these earbuds.
Mic Old Quite
But finally heres the microphone test. Now the microphone on the Bose QC Earbuds 2 doest sound great. Its usable, but it doesn’t sound good.
Mic Ultra Quite
Where as the microphone on the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds sound a lot better cause theres a lot more clarity to my voice.
Mic Ultra Headphones Quite
And the Microphone on the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds sounds very similar to the Microphone found on the Ultra Headphones.
Mic Ultra Headphone Road noise
However, Bose’s ultra headphones and earbuds don't do the best job of dealing with noise pollution.
Mic Ultra road noise
Cause even though these earbuds and headphones are trying to reducing this noise pollution, a lot of road noise is getting in and there is some distortion in that back. But at least these are doing a better job than the Bose QC earbuds 2.
Mic QC Earbuds road noise
Cause with these, these are letting in more road noise and its harder to understand me.
Mic QC Earbuds Chatter
And its the same thing when it comes to blocking chatter.
Mic Ultra Earbuds Chatter
Now the QC Ultra earbuds are trying to block out more chatter than the QC Earbuds 2… but these are still letting in a lot of noise pollution.
Mic Ultra Headphones
And so are the headphones. So overall, the bose QC Ultra Earbuds have a better sounding microphone than the Bose QC Earbuds 2… and both of Bose’s Ultra earbuds and headphones have a decent sounding microphone on them to take phone calls with while in a quite room… but when it comes to noise pollution, Bose’s earbuds and headphones have room for improvement.
So with all of that being said, the upgrades that you’ll find on the Bose QC Ultra earbuds over the Bose QC Earbuds 2 are very small. The Bose QC Ultra earbuds have slightly better active noise cancelation, they have a slightly better sounding microphone for phone calls, they have immersive audio which can be hit or miss depending on what you’re listening to. And they have APTX Adaptive. If you have the Bose QC Earbuds 2, there is no need to upgrade. Peronsally in order to get me to upgrade the ultra’s would at least need a longer combined battery life and wireless charging. However, if you’re thinking about picking up the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds… their stand out characteristic is their comfort. They have a shallow fit so they’re as comfortable as the AirPods 3’s, but they passively block out noise and thanks to their fins they have good lock down. They also block out a lot of noise, without needing foam ear tips or a lot of cabin pressure. However, for all of this comfort, you are going to have to sacrifice some convince cause of their slightly larger case.